120 Whither Kashmir? (Part II) - Islamabad Policy Research Institute

70 IPRI Factfile
like ‘will to fight’ and ‘moral force’ have been more noted in the latter
who have exerted psychological impact of causing fear, shock, mental
depression and stress, resulting in demoralisation of the Indian military
and paramilitary troops.
In this regard, numerous cases of suicides among Indian troops—
opening fire on their colleagues and several other tense reactions have
been reported in respect of Indian forces in the controlled territories of
Kashmir.
In the recent past, Lt. Col. Pankaj Jha shot himself with a service
revolver, while Maj Sobha Rani, Capt Sunit Kohli, Lt Sushmita
Chatterjee and a number of other officers of the Indian army also did the
same in one or the other way.
Indian defence analysts and psychologists have indicated various
causes of suicides and fratricides, found in the Indian military, stationed
in the Jummu and Kashmir. They have attributed these trends to
“continuous work under extreme hostile conditions, perpetual threat to
life, absence of ideal living conditions, lack of recreational avenues, and of
course; the home sickness due to long separation from families.” While
other experts have pointed out that the growing stress in the Indian
armed forces is owing to “low morale, bad service conditions, lack of
adequate home leave, unattractive pay and a communication gap with
superiors.”
Retired Maj Gen Afsar Karim, who has fought three wars, remarks,
“The stress may be high among soldiers because of lack of leave.” He
further explains, “The army is involved in a tough long running internal
security environment. There is lack of rest…soldiers get angry when they
are denied leave and their officers themselves take time off. It triggers a
reaction, while they are well armed and they take their own lives” or
those of their colleagues.
Another Indian military analyst reveals, “then there is the question
of what many say is low pay…starting salaries in many jobs in middleclass
of India are double that of a new soldier, and for many of them, the
army no longer holds out the promise of a good life.”
According to the Indian Col SK Sakhuja, “soldiers kill each other
when one of them perceives that they are being harassed by superiors or
when they have heated arguments among themselves.”
An Indian parliamentary panel had indicated that the military
establishment was not taking reports of suicides and fratricides seriously.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, in its 31st report on